The paper examines Giovanni Michelucci’s theoretical and design contributions to transcending Florence’s former total institutions and marginality in a broader sense, with a focus on the San Salvi asylum. Outlining the environmental issues that, according to Franco Basaglia and other psychiatrists of the time, have an impact on transcending the psychiatric hospital, the paper aims to demonstrate continuity between Basaglia’s thought and Michelucci's design actions. Several issues of the journal La Nuova Città under Michelucci’s supervision, particularly in the IV series (1983-85), bear witness to his research, thanks to the contribution of prominent personalities in Democratic Psychiatry, along with eminent architects and thinkers. Michelucci reflects on the architect’s responsibility in conveying the indistinct boundary between reason and madness within architectural space. The contemporary city allows collective insanity but not individual madness, caused by environmental factors. Thus, the city, where the mentally ill inhabit, constitutes the focus for intervention. In the case of Florence, Michelucci advocates for a reevaluation of some core components, avoiding the transformation of separate areas, and pursuing a new system of relationships between the urban structures representing confinement and isolation. The Santa Croce district is the focus of Michelucci’s urban development proposals, which he drafted from 1966, the year of the Florence flood, until his death in 1990. The design highlights San Salvi and the Murate Prison as two significant points of an urban axis that can be regenerated through cultural initiatives, including new university facilities. Instead of zoning the city, the proposal envisions a “polyphonic” system that attracts cultural, recreational, and scientific interests. This vision pioneers culture-led regeneration, considering former total institutions as the poles for developing a new urban system.
The Former Total Institution as a Potential Space of Urban Regeneration. Giovanni Michelucci's Theoretical and Design Proposals for Florence
Eliana Martinelli
2025
Abstract
The paper examines Giovanni Michelucci’s theoretical and design contributions to transcending Florence’s former total institutions and marginality in a broader sense, with a focus on the San Salvi asylum. Outlining the environmental issues that, according to Franco Basaglia and other psychiatrists of the time, have an impact on transcending the psychiatric hospital, the paper aims to demonstrate continuity between Basaglia’s thought and Michelucci's design actions. Several issues of the journal La Nuova Città under Michelucci’s supervision, particularly in the IV series (1983-85), bear witness to his research, thanks to the contribution of prominent personalities in Democratic Psychiatry, along with eminent architects and thinkers. Michelucci reflects on the architect’s responsibility in conveying the indistinct boundary between reason and madness within architectural space. The contemporary city allows collective insanity but not individual madness, caused by environmental factors. Thus, the city, where the mentally ill inhabit, constitutes the focus for intervention. In the case of Florence, Michelucci advocates for a reevaluation of some core components, avoiding the transformation of separate areas, and pursuing a new system of relationships between the urban structures representing confinement and isolation. The Santa Croce district is the focus of Michelucci’s urban development proposals, which he drafted from 1966, the year of the Florence flood, until his death in 1990. The design highlights San Salvi and the Murate Prison as two significant points of an urban axis that can be regenerated through cultural initiatives, including new university facilities. Instead of zoning the city, the proposal envisions a “polyphonic” system that attracts cultural, recreational, and scientific interests. This vision pioneers culture-led regeneration, considering former total institutions as the poles for developing a new urban system.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
